Gender roles in the aviation industry

Abstract: This discussion paper aims to identify some of the barriers and challenges that women face within the aviation industry. This discussion will focus on three barriers and provide solutions for moving forward.

Key words: Aviation, gender roles, the gender pay gap, gender stereotypes, gender bias, sexual harassment, flight attendants, pilots

The aviation industry, also identified as air transportation, air travel, civil aviation, and flights, is defined as the development and operations of heavier-than-air aircraft. First introduced in 1490, aviation has seen continuous development over the years. Some careers within the aviation industry include pilots, flight attendants, baggage handler, avionics technician, air traffic controller, and aircraft mechanic/engineer.

Gender roles have always played a huge role in many different aspects of like, particularly the working industry. Many women are being offered less opportunities and promotions within their careers than their male colleagues due to issues such as gender stereotypes, gender bias, and sexual harassment. Some gender stereotypes are more harmful than others, some specific examples of gender stereotypes include but are not limited to: women expected to stay home, preparing meals in the kitchen whilst their husbands present themselves in the public, indulging themselves into their career; women are supposed to endure all of the domestic chores; masculinity in men, there is the belief that men should be strong, muscular, and tall, and are forbidden for showing emotion and sensitivity; and the work and aspirations stereotype, this is the expectation that men take on the role of hard, public jobs such as pilots and doctors, and women take on the more nurturing and care job roles, such as nurses and teaches.

Another major impact regarding gender and the workplace is the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is the measure of percentage difference in pay between all male and female workers (Jefferies, 2023). The gender pay gap indicates that female workers are missing out on opportunities, promotions, higher pay and flexible full-time working hours. Studies show that on average a woman will earn 16% less than her male co-workers and has been estimated that it would take roughly 257 years to close the gender pay gap, even though attempts are being made to reduce it, such as increasing education to women and girls, and further involvement of women in the labour market.

Two big job roles in the aviation industry include pilots and flight attendants. A flight attendants’ role is to act as the face of an airline during the flights, ensure the customer’s safety and satisfaction, etc. In 2021, the workforce of flight attendants saw that 75.2% of workers were female and 24.8% were male, indicating that it is a female dominated field. A pilot’s role is to operate and navigate aircraft and ensure there is safe and efficient transport for passengers and/or cargo, and much more (Sokanu, 2024). In the UK by 2021, it was recorded that only 4.7% of pilots were female.

Women face many barriers within the aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) identify that the percentage of women holding C-level roles in the aviation industry is only 3%. Some specific barriers that women face are gender stereotypes, when women in the past have tried to take on stereotypically male dominated roles, in this case as pilots, they have been rejected and insulted due to them not abiding by the natural female stereotypes of being caring and nurturing, as they are seen as ‘overly aggressive,’ resulting in it being harder for them to reach the higher positions. A solution to this could be introducing the education of gender stereotypes, educating employees on gender stereotypes and their impacts could reduce them.

Another barrier women are facing is gender bias. Some aviation’s recruiting strategies include only responding to job candidates with masculine names. Gender bias has led to a total of 42% of women experiencing gender discrimination at work (Reiners, 2023). Due to the pilot career being predominantly male dominated, several challenges are created for female pilots (Vermeulen and Mitchell, 2007), which can result in a negative effect on a female pilots’ performance (Matthews et al., 2009). Some solutions to this include identifying where the biases lie, implementing regular gender bias training, reviewing policies, and offering equal perks and opportunities.

A third barrier is the hyper sexualisation and sexual harassment of flight attendants. A flight attendant is required to wear tight clothing and high heels, and are advertised in a sexual manner, following the progressive stereotypes of what is identified as a woman in the airline industry. Additionally, flight attendants are unable to pump milk on flight, causing major discomfort and infection. A solution to this could include having a zero-tolerance policy to sexual harassment, change of uniform, treating complaints accordingly, and including workers in flight to the PUMP act, allowing them to pump throughout flights.

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Yanikoglu, O. (2020) Gender in the cockpit: Challenges faced by female airline pilots. Journal of Air Transport Management. Science Direct. Volume 86. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0969699720300132#:~:text=Female%20pilots%20are%20experiencing%20gender,relations%20on%20the%20flight%20deck. [accessed 19th May 2024]

This discussion paper identifies the challenges women are faced with in the aviation sector. This commentary is going further develop the discussion around gender roles in the aviation industry by identifying other barriers women face within the airline industry such as low representation of female pilots in recruitment and training.

Within the aviation industry the amount of female commercial pilots has rapidly and significantly increased in the last decade, however the percentage of female pilots in the sector is still very low. This is due gender discrimination creating several difficulties for female pilots as more women are experiencing discrimination and gender prejudice from colleagues especially from cockpit crew as the industry has dominant masculine discourses that impact flight deck relations (Yanikoilu, Kiliç and Küçükönal, 2020).

There are many factors that influence the low representation of females in pilot recruitment and training and create a lack of role models for young girls and women in aviation. Female presence within a traditionally male dominated occupation is perceived as a threat and for women wanting to work in male dominated sectors, many issues are invisible within the masculine discourse adding extra amounts of pressure on to women (Marintseva, Mahanecs, Pandey and Wilson, 2022). Another challenge female pilots face is the low passenger confidence in them. Research indicates that male passengers main reasoning for not trusting female pilots is their beliefs that male pilots are more educated and skilled and that these sexist and discriminatory comments from passengers has led to conditions such as stress and depression amongst operating female pilots and is one of the reasons new generations of female pilots are being discouraged from beginning their career in aviation (Marintseva et al., 2022).

Due to these factors, the lack of female mentors and role models in pilot recruitment is very challenging for women. Female mentors provide women who are entering the aviation sector or those who are early within their aviation career with support and assistance with issues that affect women that may not be relevant to men such as, being able to balance the want and need of a family with professional aspirations (Opengart and Ison, 2016). For women wanting to enter a career in aviation, female role models empowers women providing them with guidance and positive encouragement and support through their training and throughout their career progression in the industry, without this women can feel isolated and decreases their desire to carry on in their dream career path (Opengart and Ison, 2016).

References:
Marintseva, K., Mahanecs, A., Pandey, M. and Wilson, N., 2022. Factors influencing low female representation in pilot training recruitment. Transport Policy, 115, pp.141-151.

Opengart, R. and Ison, D., (2016). A strategy for alleviating aviation shortages through the recruitment of women. International Journal of Aviation Management, 3(2-3), pp.200-219.

Yanikoilu, Ö., Kiliç, S. and Küçükönal, H., (2020). Gender in the cockpit: Challenges faced by female airline pilots. Journal of Air Transport Management, 86, p.101823.